KABUL: At least 11 people were killed in a blast on Thursday at a funeral service for an Afghan acting provincial governor whose assassination this week was claimed by the militant Islamic State group, the interior ministry said.

Security has improved dramatically since the Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021, ousting the US-backed government and ending their two-decade insurgency, but the Islamic State group remains a threat.

An interior ministry statement said more than 30 people were also injured in the blast at the funeral of the acting governor of northeastern Badakhshan province, Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi.

“The Ministry of Interior of the IEA condemns this brutality of the disgraced enemies,” a statement said of the explosion in the provincial capital of Faizabad.

IS claims responsibility

“I was standing outside the mosque to receive the guests coming, suddenly a terrible sound shook the mosque,” said witness Naseer Ahmad.

An AFP journalist near the scene of the blast said Taliban government security forces had set up checkpoints around the funeral site in the morning.

The AFP reporter saw 10 bodies on stretchers at a local hospital.

IS claimed responsibility for Ahmadi’s killing on Tuesday, when a suicide bomber drove a car filled with explosives into his vehicle.

The driver was also killed and six others were wounded in that attack, which also took place in Faizabad.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said on Twitter it “unequivocally condemns this and a recent spate of appalling and indiscriminate attacks that have shown a total disregard for civilian lives”.

IS has emerged as the biggest security threat to the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, who have pledged to prevent the nation from serving as a staging ground for international attacks.IS has claimed responsibility for attacks on minority religious groups, foreign embassies as well as Taliban government officials.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2023